﻿ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES. 
  133 
  

  

  Notes 
  on 
  Cuproscheelite. 
  

  

  BY 
  HENRY 
  G. 
  HANKS. 
  

  

  Several 
  months 
  ago, 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  B. 
  Treadwell 
  handed 
  me 
  a 
  mineral 
  for 
  examina- 
  

   tion 
  which 
  he 
  found 
  at 
  the 
  Green 
  Monster 
  Mine, 
  Kern 
  County, 
  twelve 
  miles 
  

   east 
  of 
  White 
  River 
  Postoffice, 
  a 
  specimen 
  of 
  which 
  I 
  present 
  this 
  evening. 
  

   At 
  the 
  first 
  glance 
  I 
  supposed 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  Sulphate 
  of 
  Barijta, 
  colored 
  by 
  an 
  ad- 
  

   mixture 
  of 
  some 
  foreign 
  substance 
  ; 
  but 
  to 
  my 
  surprise 
  I 
  found 
  it 
  to 
  contain 
  no 
  

   trace 
  of 
  baryta. 
  I 
  then 
  submitted 
  the 
  mineral 
  to 
  a 
  physical 
  and 
  chemical 
  

   examination, 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  following 
  is 
  the 
  result 
  : 
  The 
  mineral 
  is 
  massive 
  and 
  

   homogeneous 
  ; 
  color, 
  yellowish-green 
  ; 
  lustre, 
  vitreous 
  ; 
  hardness, 
  5.5 
  ; 
  streak, 
  

   white 
  ; 
  specific 
  gravity, 
  5.863-j- 
  ; 
  anhydrous 
  ; 
  fusible, 
  after 
  heating 
  turns 
  

   purple 
  ; 
  not 
  magnetic 
  ; 
  B. 
  B. 
  dissolves 
  in 
  borax 
  to 
  an 
  opaque 
  white 
  bead 
  ; 
  B. 
  B. 
  

   dissolves 
  in 
  microcosmic 
  salt, 
  color, 
  green, 
  hot 
  and 
  cold 
  ; 
  gives 
  a 
  reaction 
  of 
  

   copper; 
  not 
  soluble 
  in 
  water, 
  hydrochloric 
  acid, 
  or 
  aqua 
  regia, 
  even 
  

   after 
  fusion 
  with 
  bi-sulphate 
  of 
  potash 
  ; 
  a 
  dense, 
  golden-yellow 
  powder 
  re- 
  

   mains 
  in 
  every 
  case 
  ; 
  in 
  a 
  closed 
  tube 
  no 
  sublimate, 
  rttsence 
  of 
  sulphur 
  ; 
  does 
  not 
  

   blacken 
  ; 
  absence 
  of 
  carbon 
  ; 
  heated 
  with 
  cyanide 
  of 
  potassum 
  and 
  water, 
  gives 
  

   no 
  reaction 
  of 
  silver 
  in 
  the 
  filtrate, 
  while 
  white 
  residue 
  treated 
  with 
  sulphide 
  of 
  

   ammonium 
  does 
  not 
  blacken, 
  absence 
  of 
  lead. 
  The 
  powdered 
  mineral 
  found 
  by 
  

   the 
  above 
  treatment 
  to 
  be 
  free 
  from 
  sulphur, 
  carbon, 
  silver, 
  and 
  lead, 
  was 
  fused 
  

   with 
  the 
  following 
  flux 
  : 
  1 
  part 
  nitrate 
  of 
  potash, 
  2 
  parts 
  carbonate 
  of 
  potash, 
  

   2 
  parts 
  carbonate 
  of 
  soda, 
  by 
  which 
  means 
  it 
  was 
  brought 
  into 
  solution, 
  the 
  res- 
  

   idue, 
  undissolved 
  by 
  water, 
  being 
  wholly 
  soluble 
  in 
  hydrochloric 
  acid. 
  Although 
  

   this 
  mineral 
  strongly 
  resembles 
  scheelite, 
  yet 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  copper 
  and 
  its 
  in- 
  

   ferior 
  specific 
  gravity 
  separate 
  it 
  from 
  that 
  species. 
  I 
  then 
  made 
  a 
  mi- 
  

   croscopical 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  mineral 
  to 
  ascertain 
  if 
  the 
  copper 
  might 
  be 
  a 
  

   mechanical 
  mixture, 
  but 
  found 
  it 
  perfectly 
  homogeneous. 
  

  

  Believing 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  new, 
  I 
  set 
  it 
  aside 
  for 
  a 
  careful 
  analysis 
  at 
  ray 
  leisure. 
  

   Not 
  long 
  since 
  I 
  showed 
  the 
  specimen 
  to 
  Prof. 
  Whitney, 
  who 
  recognized 
  it 
  

   as 
  Cuproscheelite, 
  described 
  by 
  him 
  in 
  Vol. 
  3 
  of 
  this 
  Society's 
  proceedings, 
  

   page 
  287. 
  

  

  Although 
  not 
  new, 
  it 
  is 
  still 
  interesting 
  to 
  science 
  as 
  coming 
  from 
  a 
  new 
  

   locality, 
  and 
  being- 
  found 
  in 
  abundance. 
  

  

  As 
  a 
  source 
  of 
  tungstic 
  acid 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  valuable 
  to 
  the 
  arts, 
  as 
  according 
  to 
  

   the 
  analysis 
  of 
  Prof 
  Whitney 
  it 
  contains 
  79.69 
  per 
  cent, 
  of 
  that 
  rare 
  acid, 
  and 
  

   is 
  easily 
  decomposed. 
  

  

  With 
  this 
  I 
  present 
  a 
  sample 
  of 
  Tungstic 
  acid, 
  obtained 
  by 
  simply 
  boiling 
  

   the 
  mineral 
  in 
  hydrochloric 
  acid. 
  

  

  Scheelite 
  has 
  been 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  Mammoth 
  District, 
  Nevada, 
  and 
  Cupro- 
  

   scheelite 
  in 
  several 
  mines 
  in 
  Lower 
  California, 
  but 
  I 
  am 
  not 
  aware 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  

   any 
  other 
  known 
  locality 
  in 
  which 
  Tungstate 
  of 
  Lime 
  in 
  either 
  form 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  

   any 
  considerable 
  quantity. 
  

  

  